The snow is good for ETHS sports.

While outdoor fields are suffering through the weather, Evanston teams take advantage of superior indoor facilities, gaining a leg up on lesser-equipped competition.

Up until quite recently all spring sports teams were constrained inside due to outdoor fields being brutalized by the snow, rain, and freezing temperatures. Evanston plays host to eight spring sports, all of which being forced to practice inside. An insurmountable burden for many schools would be sufficiently accommodating the needs of each sport, but the athletic facilities at Evanston far exceed most of the North Shore, and allow for ETHS teams to take advantage of an opportunity much of their competition does not get.

Encompassed in the gym wing are seven gyms, weight room, newly renovated field house, as well as specialized facilities for indoor teams. With the outdoor fields being unfit for practice and competition, teams still need to have access to areas to put in work leading up to their first games. The facilities at ETHS allow for these teams to maintain a full practice schedule, providing space to practice and prepare for games.

What really sets Evanston apart from other CSL schools is the field house. As the pinnacle of our indoor facilities, the field house properly accommodates six spring teams, all of which forced inside due to weather. With X square feet, the field house provides space for any spring team, as well as the specific needs of teams such as baseball (batting cages) and tennis (nets).

Some schools within our league do not have a field house, forcing teams to remain strictly in gyms, which is far from ideal. Those that do have one, fall short in terms of superiority when compared to our own field house at ETHS. When athletes are given the opportunity to improve their game, and start meshing as a team sooner, and more frequently than rival schools, this allows for us to gain a clear advantage.

I understand that all teams around the CSL are still practicing despite being indoors, and there are schools that successfully schedule sufficient indoor time for those teams, but the resources Evanston provides are hard to contend with. ETHS does a great deal to get teams game ready, even when their fields are not.